BASEL, Switzerland, July 19 (World Daily Times) — For now, the main takeaway is simple: this tiny dental robot is not something patients are choosing at the dentist today. But researchers at the University of Basel say their prototype could someday help prepare teeth for crowns with fewer steps and possibly fewer appointments.
The device, called MIR for “Miniature Intraoral Robot,” was developed by the University of Basel’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and described in a 2026 paper in IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics. The researchers say it is meant for minimally invasive tooth preparation, a step used when a tooth needs to be shaped before a crown is placed.
What is MIR?
MIR is a miniature robot built to work inside the mouth. The University of Basel team describes it as about the size of a wine cork, measuring 43 by 26 by 28 millimeters. Dr. Yukiko Tomooka, the paper’s first author, said the robot is designed to be small enough to fit comfortably in an open mouth.
How would it work in a dental visit?
The proposed setup keeps the motors and control systems outside the mouth. The robot is attached to a custom-fitted dental splint made from a scan of the patient’s mouth, with flexible drive shafts, cables and tubes connecting the parts outside the mouth to the working tool inside.
In the workflow described by the researchers, a dentist would scan the tooth during an initial visit, plan the crown preparation digitally, and potentially order the crown right away. That could, in theory, reduce the need for a second appointment.
How well did it do in testing?
So far, the robot has only been tested in the laboratory. The sources say the team used synthetic resin tooth models and a ceramic material with hardness similar to tooth enamel.
In those tests, the robot’s positional error was reported as less than 0.2 millimeters. The researchers also reported drilling forces below 5 newtons. MedicalXpress said that is roughly equal to the force of a half-liter bottle of water.
That said, the current version does not yet have sensors to measure or correct its position directly.
What are the limits right now?
The sources all describe MIR as a prototype. They do not report any testing in patients, and they do not mention clinical approval or regulatory clearance.
That matters because a lab result is not the same as a real dental procedure. Human mouths move, saliva can interfere, and dentists need tools that are accurate, safe and easy to use in everyday practice.
What comes next?
Professor Georg Rauter, the research group leader, said the next step is to add sensors and a camera so MIR can monitor its position and treatment progress. He also said the goal is to let the robot resume from the right spot after a power outage, without making it larger.
Why should a regular patient care?
Because if this kind of technology works in people, it could change how some crowns are prepared. A future dental visit might take less time and require fewer manual steps from the dentist.
But that future is still ahead. For now, the University of Basel work is best understood as an early engineering step, not a new treatment option. The question is less whether patients should trust a tiny robot today, and more whether the idea can prove itself safely in real dental care later.
Fox News reported that the project page also credits collaborators including BIROMED-Lab, the Clinic of Reconstructive Dentistry at the University of Zurich, Camlog Biotechnologies and the University of Bern’s ARTORG Center, with support from Innosuisse, Switzerland’s innovation agency.
